Skylanders SWAP Force ready for Disney’s challenge (preview)

For the first time in its short history, the Skylanders franchise faces a serious challenge. The game that was a pioneer in combining action figures and video games now faces a 600-pound gorilla with the launch of Disney Infinity in August. So how is Activision competing?

They’re building on the foundation that developer Toys for Bob laid out and coming out withSkylanders: SWAP Force. This time around, Vicarious Visions is at the helm and the team there improved on the engine they built for the series. SWAP Force features a graphical boost and new gameplay wrinkles for the characters, most notably the ability to jump.

Rattle Shake is one of the newest characters in the Skylanders universe.

PROTECTING THE CLOUDBREAK ISLANDS: As for the story, it has a Saturday morning cartoon feel as Lord Chaos once again sets his sights on Skylands. He creates a new contraption called the Evilizer that apparently makes things evil. He wants to head over to the Cloudbreak Islands where there’s a mystical volcano that erupts once every 100 years. The natural wonder restores the magic in Skylands. His maniacal plan resembles what happened the last time the volcano was active.

Back then, the SWAP Force defended the landmark from another villain with a similar plot to harness the power of the volcano. The team of heroes got caught in the explosion and they developed the power to swap tops and bottoms. That’s how Activision introduces the latest advancement in its figurines.

Design producer Michael Graham said it plays to the strength of the series. He said Skylanders has always tightly tied the fiction and the toys together. The backstory makes players believe that the action figures contain living breathing heroes that only come alive through the portal. And that’s how Skylanders is differentiating itself from Disney Infinity — by capitalizing on the bonds kids have built with each toy.

There are magnets in the Skylanders action figures that let players switch them out so they stay connected.

KEEPING AHEAD OF THE PACK: “It was only a matter of time before others jumped in,” Graham said, mentioning Nintendo, Rovio and Disney. “We were the first though. We created that magical blend between the physical and video game world.”

The customization of the Skylanders SWAP Force plays into that philosophy. It lets players create their own hero. Whenever they switch out the bottoms and tops different heroes with different names are created. Wash Buckler becomes Stink Buckler or Magna Charge transforms into Magna Blade.

Graham said it takes a lot of work animating the different combinations so they can fire weapons, jump across platforms and move naturally. Moreover, the updated figures also requires a new portal. The old peripheral won’t work with the new title because it can’t read the different RFID chips attached to each half of the toy. And with up to 250 combinations that’s a lot of information to read and decipher.

Magna Charge is one of the new characters in the game.

SUPPORT FOR OLD FAVORITES: As for previous toys, they’ll still be compatible with Skylanders SWAP Force. This time around, Vicarious Visions raises the level cap to 20. In addition, there are new versions of old favorites such as Stealth Elf in the Series 3 of the toys.

The game even supports Giants. The large creatures can jump and move around the world like any other hero, but as an added benefit, they can open secret Giants Vaults in the game.

Lastly, the SWAP Force characters have their own bonus missions that they can access. They’ll need certain bottoms to open up the areas and they’re filled with bite-size challenges that are fun to play. In a Bounce Zone, I had to use the coils of Rattle Shake to jump from platform to platform to get to the end.

The rewards for finishing the zones include hats that offer stat bonuses for heroes. There are also special and legendary treasures that can let players customize the hub world and offer global buffs that essentially change the game.

Here are three sets of SWAP Force figurines.

PRICE POINT: Because players will need to get a new portal, Skylanders SWAP Force will be sold as starter packs, so it’s going to be pricier than Skylanders: Giants. The Starter Pack will include Stealth Elf Series 3 and two SWAP Force heroes — Wash Buckler and Blast Zone. Individual SWAP Force toys will be sold for $14.99.

It’ll be interesting to see if the allure of Disney Infinity will attract Skylanders young audience or if that crowd will stick with heroes who may not have the name recognition as Mickey Mouse but they’ve built a bond with. We’ll find out when the game is released Oct. 13.